Handbag with dual-securing means

ABSTRACT

A handbag having two spaced-apart side panels and a center section attached to the side panels, all for forming the exterior of the bag and providing the enclosure of the contents in the bag. The center section is provided with a first type of closure, such as a zipper, and it is also provided with a second type of closure, such as flaps which extend over the zipper and provide additional security against theft and spillage. Further, the flaps are extended along the center section to conceal the zipper and enhance the appearance of the bag. The center section is slightly recessed with respect to the peripheral edges of the side panels, so the side panels serve as supports for setting the bag on a surface. Also, the side panels are shaped in a bowed or curved shape to provide maximum capacity for the bag, and the side panels can be arranged to appear to be the form of an object, such as a football, in the embodiment in the disclosure. Still further, the bag is provided with a strap which is connected to the flaps for holding the flaps in the secured position, and the strap may be in a latched position with the flaps and it may be released from the latched position and moved between a handhold position and a shoulder-hold position.

111 Paten lien-man ill. Poelman 1615 Rapids Drive, Racine, Wis. 53404 [21] Appl. No. 67,005

[22] Filed Aug. 28, 11970 [45] Patented Dec. 21, 11971 [72] inventor [54] HANDBAG WITH DUAL-SECURING MEANS 0 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

Primary Examiner-Joseph R. L eclair Assistant Examiner-$tephen P, Garbe Attorney-Arthur J. Hansmann ABSTRACT: A handbag having two spaced-apart side panels and a center section attached to the side panels, all for forming the exterior of the bag and providing the enclosure of the contents in the bag. The center section is provided with a first type of closure, such as a zipper, and it is also provided with a second type of closure, such as flaps which extend over the zipper and provide additional security against theft and spillage. Further, the flaps are extended along the center section to conceal the zipper and enhance the appearance of the bag. The center section is slightly recessed with respect to the peripheral edges of the side panels, so the side panels serve as supports for setting the bag on a surface. Also, the side panels are shaped in a bowed or curved shape to provide maximum capacity for the bag, and the side panels can be arranged to appear to be the form of an object, such as a football, in the embodiment in the disclosure. Still further, the bag is provided with a strap which is connected to the flaps for holding the flaps in the secured position, and the strap may be in a latched position with the flaps and it may be released from the latched position and moved between a handhold position and a shoulder-hold position.

1 HANDBAG WITH DUAL-SECURING MEANS This invention relates to a handbag having dual means for securing the bag.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Handbags exists in many different forms, and they are made of different materials and in shapes which show or suggest various articles. However, the bags of the prior art are commonly expensive and complicated in structure or they are ineffective in supporting themselves and in securely retaining the contents of the bag and minimizing theft or spillage from the bagAlso, the prior art is aware of handbags which include straps for either hand or shoulder carry of the bag. However, in these prior art bags, they are generally not arranged for optimum security of the contents of the bag and they do not lend themselves to convenient handling, both from the standpoint of carrying the bag as well as placing it on a table or the like. Still further, the prior art bags which are made of a relatively flexible material, such as leather, are frequently either incapable of retaining their original shape or are provided with reinforcing pieces in order to retain their shape.

The present invention is in'the provision of a handbag which overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art bags. Specifically, it is a general object of this invention to provide a handbag which is made of a minimum number of pieces, but which can be made of leather, and the pieces are arranged so that the bag is self-supporting from the viewpoint of retaining its original shape and from the viewpoint of carrying the bag and also placing it on a table top or the like.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide a handbag which is arranged with dual means for securing the contents in the bag, and, this dual means is specifically shown to include a zipper as one means and bag flaps which extend over the zipper, as the second means, and the flaps thereby further secure the bag and improve the appearance of the bag by concealing the zipper.

Still further, it is an object of this invention to achieve the aforementioned objects, and to do so with a construction which will present a bag appearing to have the shape of selected items, such as a football. In also accomplishing this object, the bag is made of a minimum number of pieces but with a maximum capacity for containing items.

Still more specifically, the bag of this invention is made of an inherently flexible material, such as leather, but the pieces are individually constructed and are combined with each other all for the purpose of being self-supporting in the final construction of the bag, without the requirement of any reinforcing pieces to assure that the bag retains its original and desired shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a bag of one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of the flap and strap portions of a bag.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a portion of FIG. 6, and with the view taken substantially along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 through 5 show the purse to include two side panels 10 and 11 and a center section 12. These pieces are preferably made of a leather, but they can be made of any planar piece which is relatively stiff to be self-supporting in its own plane, and which can nevertheless be slightly bent and attached together by means such as sewing or stitching. Therefore, the

several pieces mentioned are shown to be held together by stitching 13 which is of the lace type of stitching applied by hand such as that commonly used for attaching two pieces of leather together. The side panels 10 and 11 are formed in a general oval shape, such as seen in FIG. 2, and they therefore present the silhouette or appearance of a football. Also, the pieces 10 and 11 have their opposite ends formed to have cutouts or openings which make the side panels discontinuous at the opposite ends, and such openings initially extend along the separation line 14 which is the common line for joining the edges of the cut. The panels 10 and 11 are then secured along the cut and therefore along the separation line 14 by means such as the stitches 16. With this arrangement, the side panels 10 and 11 present a bowed or dished shape so that a single planar piece can be used for forming the panels 10 and 11, but the piece will also be in the bowed shape described and shown and it will be sturdy.

The center section 12 is shown to consist of two pieces 17 and 18, on the bottom and top of the bag, respectively. FIG. 5 best shows how the piece 17 extends along the peripheral edges of the panels 10 and 11, and the piece 17 is joined with the piece 18 by the stitches 19 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Also, the piece 17 has outwardly turned edges 21 and 22 which lie adjacent the peripheral edges of the respective panels 10 and 11, and these edges of the three pieces are secured together by the stitching 23. Likewise, the opposite edges 24 and 26 of the piece 18 are secured to the respective panels 10 and II by stitching which may be identified as stitching 27. Thus, the entire construction is such that the purse is sturdy and self-supporting.

The piece 18 has a zipper 28 which extends along a portion of the piece, as shown in FIG. 5, and this presents a closure for access to the bag and for securing items in the bag. Also, it will now be seen and understood that the pieces 17 and 18, where they are joined by the stitching 19, present flaps 29 and 31 which extend over the portion of the central section 12 along the location of the zipper 28. In this manner, the bag is presented with additional or dual securing means for preventing theft or spillage from the bag. That is, the flaps 29 and 31 are in close contact with the zipper 23 to provide security for the bag. Also, the flaps 29 and 31 cover the zipper 23 and thereby enhance the appearance of the bag. It will therefore be understood that the flaps 29 and 31. are essentially pivotal about the hinge or pivot locations designated 32 and 33 in FIG. 5, and these locations 32 and 33 serve the respective flaps 29 and 31.

FIGS. 1 and 5 show that the bag is provided with a combined hand and shoulder strap 34 which is attached to the flaps 29 and 31. Therefore, when the bag is suspended from the strap 34, the strap automatically causes the flaps 29 and 31 to be in a closed or secure position over the zipper 28. That is, the strap 34 is threaded through rings .36 and 37 attached to the respective ends of the flaps 29 and 31, as shown. The strap 34 has a clasp 38 and a ring 39 which respectively engage the rings 37 and 36 for physically holding the rings 37 and 36 toward each other and thereby close the flaps 29 and 31. Release of the strap ring 39 from the flap ring 36 will permit the strap 34 to slide through the ring 36 and thereby convert the strap from a long or shoulder length strap to a short or hand length strap.

Therefore, the purse construction is such that the side panels 10 and 11 and the piece 17 are self-supporting in their own planes, but the flaps 29 and 31 are narrower, as seen in FIG. 3, and these flaps are therefore readily flexible for movement toward and away from the zipper 28. Also, with the section 17 recessed relative to the peripheral edges 41 of the side panels 10 and 11, the edges 41 serve as supports or in the nature of feet for standing the purse on a table or the like in a sturdy manner.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another arrangement of the flap rings and the strap, and here the flaps are shown to have self-contained ring portions 42 and 43, and these portions may be formed right in the ends of the leather material which can be used for forming the flaps 29 and 31. Also, the strap can be made entirely of a leather materialin the length which extends throughthe rings 42 and 43, and such strap is'shown at 44. The strap 44 has enlargements 46 and 47 which respectively engage the rings 42 and 43 to hold the rings toward each other, and thereby secure the flaps in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 5. The remainder of the strap of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be as shown in FIG. 6, and here it will be seen that the strap is made of two lengths of material 48 and 49 which join to the strap material 44. Thus the rings in both embodiments and the strap constructions described interengage to form latches so that the strap can be utilized for latching the straps 29 and 31 in the closed or secured position; A special maneuver of releasing one of the latches, whether it be the ring 39 or one of the enlargements 46 or 47, is required for opening the flaps 29 and 31.

What is claimed is:

l. A handbag having three sections consisting of two spaced-apart opposite side panels and a center section attached to said side panels and extending therebetween, a closure on said center section for access to the interior of said bag, two flexible flaps included in said center section and extending over said closure for covering said closure and with said flaps terminating in spaced apart free ends, a ring on each of said free ends of said flaps, and a carrying strap threaded through said rings for suspending said bag from said strap and having said strap pull said flap free ends toward each other and to a position of covering said closure, under the suspended weight of said bag.

2. The handbag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said center section includes two pieces, one of said two pieces extending along a portion of said side panels and being attached thereto and having said closure, the other of said two pieces extending along the remaining portion of said side panels and being attached thereto, said two pieces having ends attached together and free of said side panels and presenting said flaps.

3. The handbag as claimed in claim 2, wherein said side panels and said center section are stiff and self-supporting in the planes along which they all extend.

4. The handbag as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said side panels is a single piece which is stifi in its own plane to be self-supporting, the opposite ends of each of said side panels being discontinuous along a separation line and with the portions of said side panels on opposite sides of each of said separation lines being disposed together to present a bowed shape to each of said side panels for the shaping and spacing apart of said side panels, and securing means for holding said portions in the disposed together relationship.

5. The handbag as claimed in claim 4, wherein said side panels are in an oval shape like the shape of the side elevational view of a regulation football, and said carrying strap being slidable in at least one of said rings and being of a length sufficient to extend from said rings in a long single strand for shoulder carry of said handbag, and said strap being slidable in said ring to extend from said rings in a shorter double strand for hand carry of said handbag.

6. The handbag as claimed in claim 1, wherein aid side panels and said center section are stitched together completely along the entire edges of said side panels, and said center section being stifi' in its own plane in the direction between said side panels for providing the complete support for retaining said side panels spaced apart.

7. The handbag as claimed in claim 6, wherein said center section is completely disposed within the space defined between the peripheral edges of said side panels to be recessed therebetween, said side panels extending outwardly beyond the plane of said center section in the portion of the latter opposite said closure, for presenting standup supports for said handbag.

8. The handbag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said strap includes latches releasably connectable with said rings for retaining said flaps in covering position with said closure by restraining said strap from being pulled through said rings. 

1. A handbag having three sections consisting of two spacedapart opposite side panels and a center section attached to said side panels and extending therebetween, a closure on said center section for access to the interior of said bag, two flexible flaps included in said center section and extending over said closure for covering said closure and with said flaps terminating in spaced apart free ends, a ring on each of said free ends of said flaps, and a carrying strap threaded through said rings for suspending said bag from said strap and having said strap pull said flap free ends toward each other and to a position of covering said closure, under the suspended weight of said bag.
 2. The handbag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said center section includes two pieces, one of said two pieces extending along a portion of said side panels and being attached thereto and having said closure, the other of said two pieces extending along the remaining portion of said side panels and being attached thereto, said two pieces having ends attached together and free of said side panels and presenting said flaps.
 3. The handbag as claimed in claim 2, wherein said side panels and said center section are stiff and self-supporting in the planes along which they all extend.
 4. The handbag as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said side panels is a single piece which is stiff in its own plane to be self-supporting, the opposite ends of each of said side panels being discontinuous along a separation line and with the portions of said side panels on opposite sides of each of said separation lines being disposed together to present a bowed shape to each of said side panels for the shaping and spacing apart of said side panels, and securing means for holding said portions in the disposed together relationship.
 5. The handbag as claimed in claim 4, wherein said side panels are in an oval shape like the shape of the side elevational view of a regulation football, and said carrying strap being slidable in at least one of said rings and being of a length sufficient to extend from said rings in a long single strand for shoulder carry of said handbag, and said strap being slidable in said ring to extend from said rings in a shorter double strand for hand carry of said handbag.
 6. The handbag as claimed in claim 1, wherein aid side panels and said center section are stitched together completely along the entire edges of said side panels, and said center section being stiff in its own plane in the direction between said side panels for providing the complete support for retaining said side panels spaced apart.
 7. The handbag as claimed in claim 6, wherein said center section is completely disposed within the space defined between the peripheral edges of said side panels to be recessed therebetween, said side panels extending outwardly beyond the plane of said center section in the portion of the latter opposite said closure, for presenting standup supports for said handbag.
 8. The handbag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said strap includes latches releasably connectable with said rings for retaining said flaps in covering position with said closure by restraining said strap from being pulled through said rings. 